The Administrative Core oversees all functions of the DHC, including membership, delivery of Core Services, the Enrichment Program, monitoring of the scientific output of Center investigators, administration of the Pilot and Feasibility Program, and budget. The day-to-day operation is the responsibility of the Center Director (Dr. Jorge Bezerra) and of the Project Manager (Dr. Cynthia Wetzel). The Director, Project Manager, and the Associate Directors [Drs. Mitchell Cohen, Marshall (Chip) Montrose, and Aaron Zorn] form the Leadership Committee and meet every Thursday to review any issues related to Core utilization and progress in major functions of the Center (Enrichment Program, Pilot and Feasibility Program, Clinical Component). This weekly meeting, which was implemented at the start of the DHC four years ago, greatly facilitates communication among the leadership and enables the Project Manager to respond to the needs of the DHC membership in a timely fashion. The primary appointment of two investigators from outside the GI Division Dr. Montrose (Cell Physiology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine-UCCOM) and Dr. Zorn (Development Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center-CCHMC), further enhances the exchange of knowledge within the leadership of programmatic initiatives taking place in the Academic Health Center (CCHMC and UCCOM), thus enabling the DHC leadership to take advantage of these initiatives to create opportunities to better serve the DHC membership and the field of digestive disease research. The Leadership Committee is the main component of the Administrative Core; its relationship to the Internal and External Advisory Boards, CCHMC and the Academic Health Center will be presented later in this section.